Arrangement for current impulse relays



Dec. 7, 1954 E. c. ANDRAE ETAL 2,696,537

ARRANGEMENT FOR CURRENT IMPULSE RELAYS Filed July 8, 1952 ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 0 ARRANGEMENT FOR CURRENT IMPULSE RELAYS Ernst CarlAndrae and Sven Fredrik Erhard Meyer, Stockholm, Sweden, assignors toRemimax Aktiebolag, Stockholm, Sweden Application July 8, 1952, SerialNo. 297,672

Claims priority, application Sweden July 9, 1951 6 Claims. (Cl. 200-112)The present invention relates to an arrangement for current impulserelays preferably to the electromagnetically controlled type, having acontact-controlling member located within a tube, preferably ofinorganic glass, the two closed ends of which are each provided with itscontact device such as a contact fluid for example, the saidcontact-forming member alternately making and breaking the electricconnection between the two said contact devices for the purpose ofopening and closing an operating circuit connected thereto.

Devices have previously been proposed by one of us in which thecontact-controlling member here referred to consists of a holder or thelike of non-magnetic electrically conducting material adapted to rotateand located within a glass container the two ends of which are closedand expanded to form globes, the said holder surrounding and enclosing amagnetically influenced control bar such as an iron wire or the likewhich is displaceably arranged within the same and carries contact barsat its two ends which establish the electric connection contact for theimpulse coming from the electromagnet.

Moreover, it was still necessary during assembly to distribute thequantity of mercury as uniformly as possible in the two globes andperiodically control this distribution; for certain forms of use therequired operating output was too great so that in such cases theemployment of relays had to be dispensed with; it must be possible toproduce the glass container with simple and reliable mechanical means ofproduction. The uniform distribution of the mercury distillate formedmust be able to take place automatically. The rupturing capacity of therelay had to be higher than in previously known forms and the ohmic loadmight be at least 10 amperes alternating current. The work andinvestigations of the inventors led to the arrangement according to thepresent invention which is mainly characterized by a contact memberwhich surrounds a control bar serving as a magneto armature, consisting,for example, of a strip of some nonmagnetic electrically conductingmaterial bent up at its short ends, the said contact member supporting acontact arm which constantly touches the contact fluid such as mercury,and stands in conductive connection with one of the electrode terminalscovered by the control fluid, whilst closer to its opposite short end itcarries a contact pin of a material resistant to the contact fluid andarranged close to one longitudinal edge of the strip whilst at its upperside it supports a counterweight bar which locks the contact member inthe position produced by the control bar following a magnetic impulseand wipes ofli any contact fluid adhering to the inner wall of the glasscontainer, the said counterweight bar, on the constrained rotation ofthe contact member caused by the attraction of the control bar, thenbeing thrown along a path determined by the inner wall of the tubeholder (glass container) to the opposite longitudinal edge of thecontact member, whereupon the contact pin, on the magnetic impulses atthe contact bar, is moved by its sup- 2,696,537 Patented Dec. 7, 1954porting contact member to alternately open and close the connection tothe part of the contact fluid covering the other electrode terminal,this latter contact fluid be ing separated by a partition formed by aconstricted portion in the lower wall of the glass holder from that partof the contact fluid covering the first electrode terminal, thequantities of both parts of the contact fluid being in a ratio which isnot less than 3:1, the smaller part, which always lies at a higher levelthan the larger part, establishing the permanent connection between theaforesaid contact arm and the electrode terminal cooperating with thesame for the purpose of preventing the magnetically operated control barfrom falling back on the de-energisation of the magnetic field (magneticflux) and thereby turning the contact member back to its initialposition.

This arrangement according to the invention also enables the frictionformerly necessary between the contact member and the inner Wall of theglass container to be dispensed with, since the contact member can nowbe mounted on spindles when required, which according to the experiencegained during the investigations, enables the controlling power to bereduced to at least half whilst retaining the power of stroke, so that arelay arrangement according to the invention can be operated with anextremely small controlling impulse (operating current) and worksreliably and with certain reproduction.

Further characteristic features of the arrangement according to theinvention will be seen from the following description of a form ofconstruction shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement according to the invention in longitudinalsection, Figs. 2, 3 and 4 being crosssectional views taken along AA ofFig. 1, whereby: Fig. 2 shows the relay device in the so-called initialposition with a closed operating circuit, that is to say, the positionin which the contact member connects the arrangements contact fluidparts and the bottom contacts respectively, and the control bar is notacted on by any magnetic force, whilst the counterweight bar is in thelocking position at the lower longitudinal edge of the contact member.

Fig. 3 shows the same arrangement in the position in which the contactmember has been rotated to the highest open position by the magneticaction of the control bar which has been attracted, and thecounterweight bar under the effect of the centrifugal force, leaves itsposition of contact with the contact member and is moved along the path(marked on the drawing) determined by the centrifugal force and theinner wall of the glass container, over to the contact members oppositelongitudinal edge where it locks the contact member in the position ithas assumed while the control bar is still under magnetic influence,whereby the counterweight bar wipes off any contact fluid adhering tothe glass walls.

Fig. 4 shows the same arrangement in the same open position as in Fig. 3but with the contact bar which is no longer magnetized in the positionfor locking the contact member at the same edge, as that previouslyoccupied by the counterweight bar (Fig. 3).

Figs. 5 and 6 show the contact member with the semicircular contactpath, for example, for the smaller quantity of contact fluid and thecontact pin.

Within a tubular holder 1 of inorganic glass, for example, the two endsof which are closed and provided with bottom contacts consisting ofinserted electrodes 2, 3, covered by a contact fluid such as mercury, atthe lower part of the holder a partition 4 is formed by a constrictionor narrow part for separating the contact fluid into two parts 5, 6, thequantities of which are in a volumetric relation to one another whichmust not be less than 3:1 and of which the level of the lesser part 6always lies higher than that of the greater part 5, a striporleaf-shaped contact arm 12 rotatably arranged within the tubular glassholder 1 and mounted at one end of the contact member 7, which is turnedup at its two ends and consists of a non-magnetic material provided withopenings 11 for reducing its weight and returning the contact fluidcondensate, being in permanent connection with the said contact fluidpart 6. Close to its opposite end and one of its longitudinal edges thecontact member 7 supports a contact pin 10 consisting of a materialresistant to the contact fluid, such as tungsten, the said contact pin10 in the closing position of the relay arrangement (Fig. 2) for closingan operating circuit, being in connection with the larger part of thecontact fluid 5, this connection being interrupted in the so-called ofiposition (Figs. 3 and 4). The contact member 7 is locked in a positionit has assumed by a counterweight bar 9 (Figs. 2 and 4) consisting, forexample, of inorganic glass or other non-magnetic dielectric materialwhich is resistant to the contact fluid.

The operation and manner of action of the arrangement according to theinvention is substantially as follows:

In the initial position shown in Fig. 2, in which a connected operatingcircuit (not shown in the drawing) is closed through the contact member7 and its contact arm 12 and the contact pin 10 each of which is incontact with its quantity of contact fluid (mercury) 5, 6, the controlbar 8 is actuated by any magnetic impulse from an electromagnet 13. Thecounterweight bar 9 locks the contact member 7 in the position it hasassumed. As soon as an electromagnetic impulse actuates the control bar8 the latter is immediately attracted by the magnetic field and raisesthe edge of the contact member 7 at which the control bar 8 andcounterweight bar 9 are located with a rapid upward movement wherebyowing to the rotation of the contact member 7 determined by the wall ofthe gas holder 1 surrounding it, around its longitudinal axis, thecontact of the contact 10 with the part of the contact fluid is rapidlyremoved whilst the contact arm 12 executes a rotary movementcorresponding to that of the contact member 7 while maintainingconnection with the part of the contact fluid 6; at the same time thecounterweight bar 9 is thrown along the path determined by thecentrifugal force and the inner wall of the glass holder 1 along thesurface of the latter wall whereby the said counterweight bar 9 wipesoft or carries with it any contact fluid adhering to this wall surface(Fig. 3) and drops down on the contact members 7 opposite, and nowlower, longitudinal edge where it locks the contact member 7 in the openposition it has now assumed (Fig. 4) so that the control bar 8, which onthe cessation of the magnetic impulse effect caused by the interruptingof the operating current drops down under its own weight, must followthe path determined by the bent-up ends of the contact member 7 andcannot, in its falling or sliding movement, press down the longitudinaledge 7a of the contact member 7 which is in a higher position than edge7b, and thus turn the latter back to the position for again closing theoperating circuit (Fig. 2), the working circuit. Instead, the controlbar 8 slides down to the longitudinal edge of the contact member 7loaded by the counterweight 9 and thus locks the former in the openposition it has assumed (Fig. 4).

On receiving a new magnetic impulse the procedure described is repeatedin the reverse direction whereby an operating circuit connected up isimmediately closed (Fig. 2). Any contact fluid carried along by thecounterweight bar 9 runs back to the respective contact fluid parts 5and 6 through the holes 11 provided in the contact member 7. Any contactfluid distilled over to the contact fluid part 6 runs back automaticallyto the mercury part (contact fluid part) 5.

The invention is not limited of course, to the form of constructiondescribed here and illustrated in the drawing, but can be modified invarious ways as regards to details without departing from the basicinventive principle or exceeding its scope. The arrangement need not beenclosed in an evacuated vessel; the rotary movement of the contactmember 7 may be transmitted to previously known current controllingdevices such as one or more rotary mercury tubes, switches which are notof the contact-liquid type and the like; in place of holes 11 slots orgrooves may be provided for the contact member 7 which latter may haveanother form; the same may also constitute a container for the controlbar 8. The counterweight bar 9 may consist of a number of bars, balls orthe like. In place of the constriction 4 in the wall of the glass holder1 a partition, a dam or the like may be provided. The contact member 7may be supported on spindles; two or more contact members 7 may becombined in one unit.

We claim:

1. A current impulse relay comprising, a closed tubu' lar container,contact means in each end of said container, a non-magnetic electricallyconducting contact member rotatably mounted in said tubular container,said member being elongated in transverse cross-section and displaceablycontaining an axially disposed magnetically actuated control bar,electromagnetic means operable upon energization to move said controlbar within said contact member and rotate said member to an openposition, said control bar upon de-energization of said electromagneticmeans moving within said member to an opposite position preparatory toagain rotating said member in a reverse direction to a closed position,a first contact element permanently connecting said member to saidcontact means at one end of said container, a second contact elementconnecting said member to said contact means at the other end of saidcontainer only when said container is in closed position, and acounterbalance for locking said container in open and closed positionsafter movement of said rod within said container.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which said contact meanscomprise an electrically conducting fluid and said contact member isprovided with openings to permit drainage of said fluid therethrough.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which said counterbalancecomprises a plurality of units.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which said contact meanscomprises an electrically conducting fluid located in the bottom of saidcontainer, and an insulat ing material forming a partition to dividesaid fluid into two parts.

5. An arrangement according to claim 4 in which said container andpartition are integral and formed of glass.

6. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which said contact member ismounted to said container on spindles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,545,669 Meyer Mar. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country IDate 120,958 Sweden Feb. 24, 1948 137,261 Great Britain Jan. 8, 1920

